Slides from a Tnooz-TripAdvisor hosted webinar in August 2011. The session focussed on ideas on delivering an outstanding guest experience, optimising a hotel's web presence with reviews and user generated content, and how hoteliers can turn traveler reviews into opportunities.

1. Reputation Management
and Beyond
Getting the Most from Traveler Reviews
17 August 2011

2. Kevin May,
Editor

3. Poll no. 1

4. HKHotels
Adele Gutman
VP of Sales, Marketing &
Revenue

5. HKHotels

6. HKHotels Rankings On August 14th!

7. The Power of Social Media
 70,000-100,000 travelers see each hotels profile
every 30 days. That’s all we need to fill our hotels.
 About half our revenue comes from our own website.
 We have so much demand generated by our
reputation and the social media we don’t need to pay
other companies to generate revenue for us:
We are not dependant on paid advertising
 We are not dependant on OTAs
 We are not dependant on wholesale contracts
 We don’t need to make sales trips or attend tradeshows
 We definitely don’t need flash sales


8. Reputation Creation
 Imagine the reviews you want and
become the hotel that inspires those
reviews!
 Share that vision with every employee.
 Get ready to work.
 Shortcuts? Forgettaboutit!
 Hire people wired for people pleasing.
 Lead. Train. Empower. Be Amazed!

9. Step 1. Hire Happy People

10. Step 2. Smile at Guests!

11. Step 3. Create Your Reputation!

12. Our Core Beliefs
 Service is Marketing!
 Anything that touches the
Guest Experience is
Marketing.
 Invest in Guest Experience.
 A good stay is not enough. –
Wow them! Wow them all!
 Issues should be handled
before they walk out the door.

13. How We Listen
 Ask for the review.
 Don’t be defensive.
 What can we learn?
 How can we share
our perspective?
 This isn’t just PR.
 Be Authentic.
 Do what you say.

14. Poll no. 2

15. Optimizing your hotels‟ web presence
with reviews and user-generated content
By Josiah Mackenzie
August 2011

16. Show Me The Money! How Online Reviews and
UGC Make Sales
Online guest reviews and user generated content can help hotels
generate sales two ways:
•
Indirectly: by increasing rankings in search engines, bringing more
traffic to your website
•
Directly: by improving sales conversion rates by increasing
consumer confidence
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17. Reviews and UGC for Search Engine Optimization
For a long time, the key benefits of reviews and UGC was that they provided fresh
content. Now, major search engines take reviews into account for their ranking
algorithms.
Why are search rankings important?
“The average travel purchase online involves over 50 unique search queries and
2.5 hours of research time” [Google at EyeforTravel conference, May 2011]
Each of these searches is an opportunity to introduce your brand….if people see
you.
•
•
•
•
The top result on a search page gets clicked 42% of the time
The top 3 results get 79% of the total clicks
The top 5 results get 88% of clicks
Only 3% of searchers go beyond the first page of results pages
Placement in search results plays a huge role in how much website traffic your
hotels receive!
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18. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Reviews for Increasing Direct Sales
•
Many people who leave your hotel websites do so to read online reviews
elsewhere. Publishing reviews directly on your hotel websites can cut
down on this loss of traffic, and encourage more direct bookings.
•
Increasing consumer confidence is another key factor in encouraging
more direct sales, and placing reviews on your websites can increase
this confidence.
•
These issues are particularly important for small and independent hotels
that may not have the recognition of a large chain brand.
World Travel Market
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19. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
How HKHotels Displays Social Proof
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20. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
More Review Publishing Examples
20

21. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Example: Pueblo Bonito Resorts
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22. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Example: Fierro Hotel
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23. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Make It Easy – Bridge the Online/Offline Gap
23

24. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Putting Rich Media UGC On Your Site
Hotel SO uploads photos of their guestbook to the web:
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25. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Example: Seven Hotel
25

26. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Key Points To Remember About UGC
The next time you receive positive feedback, ask the guest to share
that experience online.
(But remember to communicate what they have to gain from the
process!)
Establish mechanisms to organize it all:
•
To organize uploads (tags and hashtags)
•
To centralize access (Flickr, Facebook groups)
•
To share the content (website section, blog, etc)
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27. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews
Test, Test, Test
Setup A/B split tests to track everything and identify improvement
opportunities. A few suggested metrics to begin with include:
•
•
•
•
Time on site
Bounce rates
Page exit rates
Sales conversion rates
27

28. Any Questions About Optimizing Your Presence
with UGC?
Email me:
josiah@reviewpro.com
Or connect on Twitter:
@HmarketingHelp @ReviewPro
More ideas, interviews, and case studies:
http://www.ReviewPro.com/blog
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29. Poll no. 3

30. The world’s largest travel site
How hoteliers can turn traveler
reviews into opportunities
Presented by
Brian Payea, Head of Industry Relations
August 17, 2011
Tnooz Webinar

31. The world’s largest travel site
How important are user reviews to you when
determining which hotel to stay at?
3%
16%
Not important (1-3)
Neutral (4-6)
81%
Important (7-10)
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4
Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
Tnooz Webinar
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32. The world’s largest travel site
I won‟t book a property unless it has reviews.
21%
49%
Disagree (1-3)
Neutral (4-6)
Agree (7-10)
30%
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4
Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
Tnooz Webinar
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33. The world’s largest travel site
TripAdvisor reviews are largely positive
45%
Average score is 3.90
Percentage of all ratings, October 2010
27%
9%
8%
1
2
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11%
3
4
5
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34. The world’s largest travel site
Management responses:
A critical part of reputation management
• Why bother?
• How to make
it count.
• How to do it.
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35. The world’s largest travel site
Seeing a management response to reviews
is important to me.
7%
22%
Disagree (1-3)
71%
Neutral (4-6)
Agree (7-10)
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4
Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
Tnooz Webinar
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36. The world’s largest travel site
If I was considering two comparable properties, the
presence of management responses on one would
sway me in its favor.
4%
28%
Disagree (1-3)
68%
Neutral (4-6)
Agree (7-10)
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4
Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
Tnooz Webinar
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37. The world’s largest travel site
A management response to
a bad review reassures me.
2%
A management response
to a good review makes
me think highly of the hotel.
2%
19%
20%
Disagree (1-3)
Neutral (4-6)
79%
Disagree (1-3)
Neutral (4-6)
Agree (7-10)
78%
Agree (7-10)
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
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38. The world’s largest travel site
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39. The world’s largest travel site
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40. The world’s largest travel site
But not this way…
“People that lack taste and a life of their
own should try to venture out into the real
world instead of hiding behind a computer
spewing meaningless factless verbiage.”
“Prove the date of your stay because
such an incident has never been recorded
in the archives of our Hotel. We regret that
some customers spoil the time by writing
negative comments for Hotels.”
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41. The world’s largest travel site
An aggressive management response to a bad
review makes the hotel look worse.
11%
Disagree (1-3)
60%
29%
Neutral (4-6)
Agree (7-10)
A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester
Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4
Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey”
Tnooz Webinar
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42. The world’s largest travel site
A prime example
• What this resort does right:
– Shows that that reviews are
important by notifying guests
that they share reviews with
their staff
– Lets future guests know that
they strive for excellence in
customer service
– Subtlety markets by including
that it is an award-winning resort
– Refers to resort website for
important details about the
resort and what sets it apart
from others
– Apologizes
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43. The world’s largest travel site
Traveler feedback on management responses
“I like it that the Hotel management
responds to posts here – says a lot
“I also like the fact that a management
about their focus on their customers.”
representative replies to some comments
-TripAdvisor member hazy-amersham „Lennons
“The by guests. This tells me that
mademanager of the hotel did respond, but it took
him a month to a hotel that care the seemingly
on Chifley‟ are do so. I appreciateabout their
thorough response given, but I to lengths to
guests and reputation and gowish he‟d done so
in a more timely manner. I might have overcome
acknowledge and rectify issues. Well done.”
my concerns about the safety of staying at his
hotel and kept my reservation.”
-TripAdvisor member Rosli
-TripAdvisor member OhioGirlScout
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44. The world’s largest travel site
From a little crowded…
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45. The world’s largest travel site
…to reorganized and streamlined
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46. The world’s largest travel site
More resources on Management Responses
• Video: The power of
management responses
to guests’ reviews
• Tip sheet: Best practices for
responding to traveler reviews
• Guide: How to respond to
traveler reviews on TripAdvisor
• All on the “What TripAdvisor
can do for you” page on the
Management Center
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47. The world’s largest travel site
Thank you!
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48. Poll no. 4

49. Q&A

50. Thank You!
Archive copy of today’s webinar will appear on
www.tnooz.com within a few days.
Questions and comments: Kevin May, kevin@tnooz.com